Interview with Christian Prommer

On 15 April 2011 an album that DJs and music critics have long been talking about finally sees the light of day. "Alex & The Grizzly" is Alex Barck and Christian Prommer, who really does look rather like a grizzly bear - two remarkable musicians who are, in many ways, essentially responsible for an entire direction in European musical culture at the turn of the millennium. And those for whom names such as Jazzanova and Sonar Kollektiv, or Compost Records, Truby Trio and Fauna Flash, are not empty sounds know that this is no exaggeration at all. In anticipation of the release of their joint long-player and their Moscow concert at the Shanti club on 2 April - a few questions for Christian Prommer about their collaboration with Barck, their sources of inspiration and their musical vision.

It all came about very spontaneously. We've known each other for more than 15 years and have worked together on many projects. Alex ran the Sonar Kollektiv label, which put out the first record by my group Drumlesson, and, of course, we played together many times at lots of parties, going right back to the mid-nineties, but we'd never had the chance to work together in the studio before. About two years ago we simply met up to chat and listen to music together, and, unexpectedly for ourselves, started making beats on the computer - just for fun. Very soon the track "Submarine Bells" was ready. All this felt like something very special to us: for both of us it was a return to our roots - to the way we wrote and produced music many years ago. We worked a lot with sampling technology, deconstructing the music of the past and filling it with a contemporary club sound. I see this as a continuation of what both Alex and I did within our own projects - whether Jazzanova or Truby Trio.

Yes, it's true. Everything came together very quickly and went absolutely perfectly. But it took us a long time to find the very idea of this project, the spirit of this album. From a technical point of view we needed 10 days, but that was preceded by 10 years of moving in the right direction. The technical side isn't a problem for us. I have a studio in Munich, and Alex would come here, or we'd work directly over the internet - which is a great way to work on a joint project! In general, we didn't agree in advance on how we'd work and who would play which role. Since I'm a musician, I'm more responsible for the musical component, while Alex, who could be called a music historian, is excellent at finding sources of inspiration and taking an analytical approach to arranging compositions.

Of course, we're completely unique, there can be no parallels here (laughs). But if they're needed all the same, then the first ones that come to mind are comedians like Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, The Mighty Boosh, or Bud Spencer & Terence Hill...

We were very lucky in that respect - while working we managed to meet some very interesting vocalists. I'd worked before with the American singer and composer Kim Sanders, and she sang superbly on the track "Everything". The singer and music producer James Teej from Canada helped us with deep, rhythmic vocals for the composition "Journey". By the way, he releases excellent dance music on the Rekids and Moodmusic labels. Another voice on the album belongs to Lois Longerling - a singer from the Dutch house project Dollkraut. We really liked their track "Loot" and got in touch with her. She sings on "Lovin'" together with Alex. And, of course, Alex sang on several compositions - "Pictures Of The Sea", "Gladys Knight", "Dr. Jackyll and Mr Hyde". Also, about five years ago I recorded the vocals of Sacha Gottschalk from the Berlin project Thief, and we used them on the track "Faces From The Past". In addition, on the composition "Sleeping Beauty" sings Eva Millner - the vocalist of the acclaimed German electronic duo Hundreds; she has a simply stunning voice and excellent songwriting skills. Each of the vocalists contributed their bit to our project, shared their musical vision with us. We're very glad it all turned out this way and hope we'll get to work with them in the future too.

Yes, it's just great. I think it is a talent after all! We were simply trying out different ideas in the studio, and at one moment I said to Alex: "Now go on, sing!", and he sang. We liked it so much that we decided to leave it just as it was. It came out really great! It was a completely different approach to vocals and to creating a composition - when you do it without preparation, inspired only by an idea that's just occurred to you. Alex also sings during our live performances - and I'm very glad it all worked out this way.

In general, we always listen to a great deal of different music. During the work we listened to a lot of both "non-club" music and various dance tracks. We were inspired by folk, krautrock, ambient, jazz and various rare things. It's hard to single out anything specific...

For me, krautrock means a phase in music between the 1970s and 80s, when former hippies switched from guitars to synthesizers and drum machines and began experimenting with non-musical forms. For me, the vivid representatives of this wave are bands like Neu!, Kraftwerk, Can. Being a drummer, it was interesting for me to watch how rhythms came to take on a dominant significance. Jaki Liebezeit, the drummer of Can, could play like a machine, yet with human feeling. Einsturzende Neubauten made rhythms out of industrial units and all sorts of junk. Gradually "songs" became "tracks". Thus began the endless experiments with structure and sounds, and this became the initial form of the music we so love. And the significant fact that all this was happening in Germany (in Dusseldorf, in particular) makes this music very close to us.

No. But the club part of our biography is hard to ignore. Even in the slow tracks on the album you can feel that club aesthetic. I really like the fact that in club music the dominant element is the bass, and I want to hear that in our music too. And, of course, we still enjoy playing in clubs, whether as DJs or with a live project.

Yes, we're veterans in a sense now! It's fun, of course. We genuinely love playing music for people - and it doesn't really matter whether it's a DJ set or a live performance. For me the most important thing is creating the right atmosphere in a particular place, with listeners who are ready to set off with you on a musical journey. With my musical projects I love being where the music is still alive. In such moments you come to a clear awareness of your place in this world!

We've had great shows in Berlin and in Krakow, in Poland. You always get enormous pleasure from a performance if the audience is open to taking in the music. Our live shows work both for small, cosy places and for large venues. And, of course, all of this is still a fresh experience for us! Each new performance is unique in its own way, we improvise a lot and take a fairly flexible approach to it. I play a lot of percussion, while Alex sings and mixes the songs on stage.

We wanted to start a new label for our music - for us it's a kind of carte blanche. We have plans to release compilations like "Based on Misunderstandings" and other special projects. And in general, we'll see what the future has in store for us - there's so much music in the world worthy of attention. At the moment we're concentrating on releasing the album "Alex and the Grizzly", as well as remixes from Peter Kruder, Kink, San Soda, Andre Lodemann, DJ Hell and others. In the next six months we'll have releases every month!

Of course, that would be great! It's a wonderful thing when music truly moves you, music is worth devoting your life to! A career in music is a special thing, depending on the type of your temperament. But in general, as a parent, you want your children to be genuinely interested in something. If it's music - great; if it's something else - that's good too! There's so much interesting stuff in the world!

Yes, of course, the reactions of some of the authors reached me. Derrick May called me, and when we finally met he hugged me and thanked me for the respect I showed to the original when I re-recorded "Strings of Life". There was good feedback too from Patrick Pulsinger, Ame and Carl Craig. Josh Wink also said some very, very kind words. Jerome Sydenham called me, and in the end we recorded a joint piece, "Love Test", which came out on his label Ibadan. I also got an email from one of the members of Kraftwerk. It said that the version of "Trans Europa Express" was, on the whole, not bad, but that, in their opinion, it was rather boring. I found that very funny. And, of course, Peter Kruder, who mixed all my recordings for Drumlesson, was delighted when we recorded an acoustic version of "High Noon" and presented it at the 16th anniversary of his label G-Stone!